Tham Samuel M, Ellithorpe Morgan E, Meshi Dar
Department of Communication, The University of Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA.
Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Addict Behav. 2020 Jul;106:106377. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106377. Epub 2020 Feb 27.
Playing video games can become problematic, interfering with gamers' daily functioning. This problematic gaming is associated with negative mental health outcomes, such as depression and anxiety. Social support, provided in the real-world, can protect against mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, previous research on gaming has found that real-world social support for gamers often decreases, while within-game social support increases. Importantly, it is currently unknown whether in-game social support can replace real-world social support in protecting problematic gamers from symptoms of depression and anxiety. To address this, we conducted an online survey (n = 361), recruiting participants from both a general university population and an online campus gaming (E-sports) group. We collected measures of problematic gaming, depression, anxiety, and both real-world and in-game social support, and then conducted a path analysis. In line with previous research, problematic gaming was significantly associated with decreased real-world social support and increased in-game social support. However, only real-world social support was then associated with reduced depression and anxiety, while in-game social support was unrelated to both. Problematic gaming also retained a significant direct effect on depression and anxiety. Maintaining real-world social support should be encouraged in the face of problematic gaming behaviors.
玩电子游戏可能会变得有问题，干扰玩家的日常机能。这种有问题的游戏行为与负面心理健康结果相关，比如抑郁和焦虑。现实世界中提供的社会支持可以预防诸如抑郁和焦虑等心理健康障碍。然而，先前关于游戏的研究发现，玩家在现实世界中的社会支持往往会减少，而游戏内的社会支持会增加。重要的是，目前尚不清楚游戏内的社会支持能否在保护有问题的玩家免受抑郁和焦虑症状影响方面取代现实世界的社会支持。为了解决这个问题，我们进行了一项在线调查（n = 361），从普通大学人群和在线校园游戏（电子竞技）群体中招募参与者。我们收集了有问题的游戏行为、抑郁、焦虑以及现实世界和游戏内社会支持的测量数据，然后进行了路径分析。与先前的研究一致，有问题的游戏行为与现实世界社会支持减少和游戏内社会支持增加显著相关。然而，只有现实世界的社会支持与抑郁和焦虑的减轻相关，而游戏内社会支持与两者均无关。有问题的游戏行为对抑郁和焦虑也有显著的直接影响。面对有问题的游戏行为，应鼓励维持现实世界的社会支持。
